


Read Between the Lions

by kam3026



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Cuddling & Snuggling, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hawaiian Hunk (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Sleepy Cuddles, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), keith is in foster care and shiro is his new foster parent, klance, shallura - Freeform, shiro owns a bookstore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2018-08-08 09:52:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7752922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kam3026/pseuds/kam3026
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith has been hopping from family to family for years and just when he finally finds people he likes, he's dropped back into the foster care facility and Shiro comes along for him. Shiro owns a bookstore called Read Between the Lions and his employees, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge have been excitedly waiting to meet Keith for the past three weeks. When they finally meet him, he's not exactly what they expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Uh I got the idea for this in the car and I really like it I guess?? Sorry the summary is so bad I'm the actual worst at summarizing. Anyways, the relationships develop kind of slowly I guess and I'm not sure if I should write the whole thing in Keith's POV or if I should kind of switch between Keith and Shiro. I'll probably just stick with only Keith. Anyways yeah enjoy! (thanks Courtney for the name of the bookstore lov u)

Once again, Keith was sitting in the room with Mr. Callin, waiting to be picked up. This family would be his thirteenth. He hardly ever stuck with the families the foster home chose for him. This time, Keith was going to try. He needed to stay with this family so he could study for the Garrison entrance exams. As much as Keith disliked many of the families he stayed with, it was still mentally taxing to be rejected by so many people, for reasons he wasn’t even allowed to know. This last time it had been hard, it was one of the longest times he had stayed with a family and just as he was getting comfortable, his time was up and he was sent back to the stupid foster care home. Mr. Callin was worried about Keith. He hardly talked to anyone and looked like he never slept. Someone finally walked in.  
“Ah Takashi, finally,” Mr. Callin said, jumping up to shake the man’s hand.  
“Please, just call me Shiro,” He said.

Shiro was very tall, he had white hair, a scar of some sort across his nose, and a prosthetic arm. Keith looked up at him, not saying anything.  
“Keith, this is Shiro, he’ll be fostering you this time around,” Mr. Callin said.  
“Hi,” Keith grunted.  
“Hi, Keith!” Shiro said, smiling. 

Mr. Callin brought Shiro into the other room and talked with him for a while, probably about Keith’s apparent “behavioral issues” and the current mental state he was in. Soon they came back out and Mr. Callin hugged Keith goodbye.  
“It’s just you?” Keith said when he was in the car.  
“What do you mean?” Shiro asked.  
“Like, I’m only living with you,” Keith said.  
“Oh, yeah,” Shiro said.

Keith was silent the rest of the ride. Shiro didn’t poke and prod though. He knew what was going on with Keith because Mr. Collin had in fact, told him about the situation. The family Keith had been staying with was patient with him and understood and acknowledged a lot more than other families did. Keith rested his head on his backpack, looking out the window. Shiro pulled up into what Keith assumed was his driveway and welcomed Keith. The house was bigger than Keith expected for someone living on his own.  
“Want a tour?” Shiro asked.  
“That’d be nice,” Keith said flatly.

They walked in, the first thing Keith noticed was the living room. There were so many pictures. A lot of them were of Shiro with his friends. Keith picked one up absentmindedly and looked at it. There were four people in it, Shiro obviously and next to him was a tall, skinny boy with tan skin and a huge smile, the boy on his other side was hefty and was slightly tanner than the other boy, he looked nice, and the person standing in front of Shiro was short with round glasses far to big for his face, and a crooked smile. Keith sighed. There were more pictures of this group in the room and Shiro with a boy that looked a lot like the short kid in the first photo.  
“Are all of these pictures with family?” Keith asked.  
“Oh, no, the one you were just looking at are the kids who work at my bookstore and the other boy is a childhood friend,” Shiro said.  
“Oh,” Keith said.  
“Yeah, they’re coming over on Friday, they’re extremely excited to meet you,” Shiro said.  
“Really?” Keith asked.  
“Yeah, I’m so excited to be your foster parent I haven’t been able to shut up about it,” Shiro said making Keith blush slightly.  
After that, Shiro gave Keith the tour. Keith’s room was huge and there were two extra guest rooms and an office upstairs. There were a lot of plastic glow stars stuck on Keith’s ceiling and a lot of space related posters. Shiro apologized for this, but Keith loved it.  
“Yeah, the kids at my store decorated it,” Shiro said.  
“It’s nice,” Keith said.  
“They’re all space nerds,” Shiro whispered, smiling.  
“That’s ok,” Keith said.  
“Yeah make yourself at home and let me know if you need anything,” Shiro said.  
“Okay, thanks,” Keith said. 

When Shiro left, Keith stared at all of the posters. He liked them. Keith dug the one photo out of his pocket of him and his last family. They had actually hired a photographer to do family photos for Christmas cards and it was so much fun. His time with that family was one of the happiest he had ever been. He continued staring at the picture. He had really liked his foster brother, Austin. They got along well and studied for the Galaxy Garrison entrance exams together. He scrunched his face up and shoved the picture in a drawer next to his bed. He just wanted to know where he went wrong. Why they had chosen not to adopt him. He knew that Austin was upset too because he had been close to tears when they said goodbye. Keith decided to stop thinking about it and go downstairs.

“Whaddya want for dinner?” Shiro asked Keith.  
“I don’t know,” Keith said.  
“What’s your favorite food?” Shiro asked.  
“I don’t know,” Keith responded.  
“Do you like pizza?” Shiro asked.  
“Sure,” Keith said.

Shiro opened his freezer and got out a pizza box, he set the oven and sat back down.  
“Keith, I know nothing about you,” Shiro said.  
“Yeah and I know nothing about you either,” Keith said.  
“What’s your favorite color?” Shiro asked.  
“Red, I guess,” Keith said.  
“I like purple, how about your favorite book?”  
“I don’t read a lot, but I liked The Outsiders,”  
“Me too, ummm… what’s your favorite song?”  
“Alone Together by Fall Out Boy,” Keith answered instantly.

 

Keith laid awake in his bed. This kept happening. He would get into his bed and start thinking. Turning the words that his last foster parents had said to him. How they felt horrible about returning him to foster care. They apologized so many times for this. If they felt so bad, why didn’t they just adopt him? He remembered Austin, Austin helping him with homework that otherwise would have kept him up all night. Austin introducing Keith to his buddies and then cutting almost all of them out after he found out some of them had been bullying Keith at school. Austin taking him to all of his nerdy space club and Galaxy Garrison events. Austin listening to Keith ramble on about being a fighter pilot. Austin trying to hold back tears and storming upstairs to his room as they both got news that Keith wouldn’t be staying with them any longer. Keith had never been closer to anyone in his life. He flicked the light on and decided to go through his backpack. He had a little photo album from Austin of all of their silly adventures and pictures together. Keith looked through this almost every night. In the back of the book was a phone number and a note telling Keith to call it if he ever got a phone. Shiro had a phone. Keith ran downstairs with the book in his hand. Shiro had a house phone. He picked it up and punched in the numbers on the paper. He was shaking. It had been almost two months. The phone rang once, twice, and on the third one, someone picked up.  
“Austin?” Keith said frantically, forgetting that Shiro was probably sleeping.  
“What? Keith?”  
“Yeah! This is Austin, right?” Keith said.  
“Yeah,”  
“Oh my god,” Keith whispered, remembering Shiro.  
“Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?” Austin asked.  
“I was looking through that photo album you gave me and remembered that there’s a phone here. Now why did you answer in the middle of the night?” Keith said.  
“I too was looking through that album,” Austin said.  
“I can’t believe it’s almost been two months since we’ve talked,” Keith said.  
“Are you with a new family yet?” Austin asked.  
“Well, kind of, it’s just this one guy,” Keith said.  
“Really? Do you like him?”  
“He only just picked me up today, but I guess he’s fine,” 

The boys talked for around two hours, eventually Keith fell asleep on the floor with the album still in his arms. Keith hadn’t slept so well in a month, even if he was on the floor, it was better than being awake in bed. Austin was the only person Keith had wanted to talk to when he was in the foster care facility. He only talked to Mr. Callin for a month. He wouldn’t talk to the counsellors or the other kids in his building. He was reluctant with Shiro too. 

The next morning, Keith found himself back in his bed. There was a note from Shiro that read:

Hey Keith! I’m at work, call if you need anything (sorry if Pidge, Lance, or Hunk answer though. They take my phone a lot -_-), I should be home by eight. I’ll be stopping by again at around twelve though, my landlord is coming so if she’s early, just let her in. If you want to watch TV, use the black remote, not the grey one. Also there’s leftover pizza in the fridge for lunch and I’ve got a lot of cereal so take whatever. Also, due to popular demand, hi from Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. They texted me all night to make sure I said hi to you for them. ALL NIGHT. (you’re pretty popular here at Read Between the Lions). Hope you had a good sleep! See yah @ 12 

\- Shiro


	2. When The Day Met The Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, thank you so much for all of the positive feedback on the last chapter???? I can't believe it?? Also this chapter is a little bit longer than the last one and leaves off on a weird note, but that's okay. And yes, the chapter title is in fact a Panic! song (my favorite actually) and it makes no sense because the chapter is kind of funky on the timeline factor.

Shiro thought about Keith on his way to work. He had found him really late at night, sleeping on the floor of his kitchen with a photo album in his arms. He decided the floor was probably uncomfortable and brought him back to his room. Shiro wondered why he was there and who the boy in the photos were. When he arrived at work Pidge, Lance, and Hunk were already there. All three of them ran up to Shiro when he walked in.  
“Did you say hi to Keith for us?” Lance asked excitedly.  
“I wrote it down, he was still sleeping when I left,” Shiro said, laughing.  
“When can we meet him?” Pidge asked.  
“We’ve already talked about this, Friday,” Shiro said.  
“How is he?” Hunk asked.  
“I think things are tough right now and he needs time to warm up, but he’s pulling through,”  
“Does he know who we are?” Lance asked. They were like little kids with all of these questions.  
“Um, kind of? He knows your names and what you all look like, but I forgot to tell him who’s who,” Shiro said.  
“What about Matt?” Pidge asked, smiling.   
“He hasn’t met Matt yet,” Shiro said.  
“What about his room? Does he like it?” Hunk asked.  
“Yes, now no more questions, let’s get to work,” Shiro said.

Shiro hoped that Keith was doing fine alone and felt bad that he had to just leave him. He was happy that his bookshop crew was so excited, especially Lance. Out of the three, Lance seemed to be the most excited about Shiro fostering Keith. He wasn’t sure if any of them would last until Friday even though it was only a day away. He hoped that Keith fit into their group and they all got along. At twelve Shiro left Hunk in charge and left. 

When he got home, Keith was on the phone. He was talking excitedly to someone about the Galaxy Garrison. He wondered if this was the boy in the pictures that Keith was talking to. He was dressed and looked like he had showered. This surprised Shiro, Mr. Callin said he would need a lot of motivation and pushing to complete simple tasks of self care. He finished up when he saw Shiro and turned to him with a smile on his face.   
“Who was that?” Shiro asked.  
“Austin, he was my last foster brother,” Keith explained.  
“The boy in the photo album?”   
“Yeah,” Keith said.  
“The landlord should be here any minute, did you eat?” Shiro said.  
“Mhm, I had cereal,” Keith said.   
“Good,” Shiro said.

There was a knock at the door and Shiro quickly answered. A beautiful lady stood in the doorway, actually she was indescribable. She had long, flowy, purpley-white hair, her skin a sepia reddish-brown and shockingly blue eyes. A tall, lanky man with a bushy mustache stood behind her.  
“Hello ma’am,” Shiro said, shaking her hand.   
“Hello Shiro! How are you today?” She asked, stepping in.  
“I’m doing well, and you?” Shiro said.  
“I’m fine, thank you!” She replied.  
“This is Keith, I’m his foster parent,” Shiro said.  
“Hello Keith, I’m Allura,” She said.  
“It’s nice to meet you,” Keith said, shaking her hand.   
“And I’m Coran! Allura’s assistant,” The mustache man said.

Allura went around, checking up on different rooms, making sure that Shiro was taking care of the house and went out into the backyard to see if he was tending to the yard and keeping up with the code for his barn-like shed that Keith had yet to see until now. Before she left, Shiro handed her a business card for his store and they left quickly, Coran rushing her out before she was late to her next appointment.   
When Shiro returned the shop was quite busy and everyone was relieved that he was back. Lance was reading to a group of kids and Pidge was at the register while Hunk was distributing coffee to customers at the coffee bar. Shiro ran his fingers through his hair and gave Pidge a thumbs up when they looked over at him. Lance was sat on the bench with two little kids sat on his knees and a few more ran around the room. Shiro laughed and walked into the back room to get his apron on. There were papers scattered across the table and a lot of pens and flashcards. He sighed and went back out to the store. The crowd had definitely thinned out a little bit, although there was a ton of little kids leaving with their teacher now.   
“Oh my gosh Shiro thank god you’re back,” Pidge said, throwing his arms across the register table.   
“Thanks for not burning the place down,” Shiro laughed.  
“No problem,” Lance said, smiling.  
“Oh man, did it get busy though,” Hunk mentioned.  
“I could tell,” Shiro said.  
“No but it was like even busier before you came back,” Pidge said.  
“Yeah, the wait for all of the kids was ridiculous, there were kids all over everything in there, it looks like trash now,” Lance exclaimed.   
“Oh,” Shiro said.   
“It’s okay though guys! We made it through and there’s only about let’s see,” Hunk glanced at the clock, “three hours left of work.”   
Lance groaned and trudged into the children’s area to clean up. 

\---------

It was Friday, Keith and Shiro had spent the day before at the store, buying food and decorations for the barn in the backyard. Keith still had no idea what was inside of the barn, but went along with getting stuff for it. Keith was more nervous than excited to meet Pidge, Lance, and Hunk. Shiro kept reassuring him that they were super nice and excited to meet him, but he just wasn’t having it. Keith was in his room, straightening up when there was a loud knock at the door and it opened.   
“WHASSUP IT’S LANCE,” someone shouted.   
Keith trotted down the stairs to find the tall, lanky, tan boy from the photos. He wore a backwards snapback and was slightly shorter than Keith had expected.   
“Are you Keith?” Lance exclaimed when he saw Keith.  
“Um, yeah, you must be Lance,” Keith said.  
“Yep, the one and only,”   
Shiro walked in. “Hi Lance,”   
“Yo where should I put my bag?” He asked.  
“In the back,” Shiro said.

Keith didn’t exactly know what ‘the back’ meant, but Lance seemed to. He followed the skinny boy outside to the barn. Lance pushed open the door and they both gasped a little. Shiro must’ve done this when Keith was sleeping yesterday. There were tons of blankets on the ground with an equal if not larger amount of pillows and an old looking TV sat on a desk. Twinkle lights were strung across the ceiling, giving the place a warm, cozy feeling.   
“Oh my god,” Lance said.  
“Woah I didn’t expect this,” Keith said.  
Lance climbed up the ladder to the top area and set his bag down. Keith led him back inside.  
“Hey, I have these pictures in my room too!” Lance exclaimed when he saw the one Keith had picked up when he first got here.  
“Yeah they’re some of my favorites,” Shiro said.  
“Do you know when Pidge and Hunk’ll be here?” Lance asked.  
“No, but I’ll text them, why don’t you talk to Keith for a bit,” Shiro said.

Lance threw himself onto Shiro’s couch and Keith sat down. There was an awkward silence.   
“So how about Galaxy Garrison?” Shiro said, trying to break the ice between them.   
“Oh man, I’m totally gonna get in,” Lance said, immediately jumping up.  
“Yeah, I’d like to be a pilot I think,” Keith said.  
“I’m going to be a pilot,” Lance said.  
“How do you know?” Keith asked.  
“I’m gonna be great at it,” He replied.  
“I think you need training before you do that,” Keith said.  
“I’m Lance Mc-freaking-Clain! I don’t need training I’m already good at everything,” Lance scoffed jokingly.  
“I bet I’m a better pilot than you,” Lance said.  
“I doubt that,” Keith said.

Keith was already annoyed by this kid. How could Shiro love him so much? At that moment, the doorbell rang and Keith jumped up to answer it. He had hardly opened the door when a short boy came running in followed by a taller, fluffier boy.  
“Oh my gosh are you Keith?” The shorter one asked.  
“Yes, and you are?” Keith said, taken aback slightly.   
“Pidge,” He said.  
“Yeah and I’m Hunk,” The other one said.   
“Ok, um,” Keith started.  
“Hey guys! Take your stuff out back,” Shiro said.   
“Ok!” They said in unison. 

Pidge and Hunk raced to the back, followed by Lance. When they entered the barn, Hunk and Pidge had the same reaction Lance and Keith had, but it didn’t last long before they all started talking about Keith.  
“I expected him to be more…” Hunk started.  
“Comfortable?” Pidge finished.  
“I dunno, I feel like we might’ve spooked him,” Hunk said.  
“I don’t think so,” Lance said.  
“Really? He seemed pretty freaked out when me and Hunk walked in,” Pidge said.  
“I feel bad now,” Hunk said, dragging his hands down his face.   
“I think he’s kind of annoying,” Lance stated earning looks from both Pidge and Hunk.  
“Dude, you’ve barely met him,” Hunk said.  
“Yeah you’re quick to judge aren’t you,” Pidge said.  
Lance shrugged and walked out, heading towards the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! I need to write more now bye!


	3. Team Iron Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *****CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER SPOILERS*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: CAPTIAN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER SPOILERS
> 
> Shut up I don't know how to name chapters. Also, follow me on tumblr @voltronspacebeans , @katherine-howlter , or @astronomicalstudies ! I probably use astronomicalstudies and voltronspacebeans the most, but astronomicalstudies is a studyblr so I'll reblog stuff related to this on @voltronspacebeans. Please send me things, it doesn't even have to be about this (although that would be ideal) and I'm thinking about commissioning people for this later when I actually have money. So if you do commissions or requests please contact me at one of these accounts or on my instagram @kam3026 :')
> 
> WARNING: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER SPOILERS

Keith looked at the white haired man and wondered why he loved these kids so much. Lance had left with Hunk and Pidge so he was left alone with Shiro. Who was cooking. Keith sighed and slumped down in his chair making his shoes squeak across the floor as he slid down. He pulled on his hair, covering his face and groaned. He liked Pidge and Hunk, they had just been a little bit, too much for him and he freaked out. Which wasn’t new. Keith did this often with new people and it took time for him to get comfortable.  
“You ok?” Shiro asked, turning around and pulling up a chair.  
“Yeah,” Keith said, twisting his hair in between his fingers.  
“They can be a little overwhelming sometimes,” Shiro said.  
Keith nodded, agreeing with the statement and looked at Shiro.  
“I feel stupid for freaking out about this though,” Keith mumbled.  
“Hey, it’s fine, it’ll be okay, is there anything I can do to help?” Shiro asked.  
“No, it’s fine,” Keith said.

The glass door squeaked open and the three excited kids walked in. Keith sat up and smiled at them, hoping that he could get along with these three weirdos. Lance dropped himself into the chair next to Keith and asked Shiro what was for dinner.  
“Chicken tacos,” Shiro said.  
“YES!” Pidge yelled, pumping their fist in the air.  
“Shiro makes the best chicken tacos,” Lance said to Keith.  
“I can confirm that,” Hunk added. 

They went out to the barn and Lance flung himself onto the pile of pillows. What was with this kid and just throwing himself places? Keith climbed up the ladder to the loft and sat on the edge of the floor to dangle his legs off. Pidge had wrapped herself in blankets and Hunk sat down. Lance rolled onto the floor and groaned, kicking his shoes off and tossing them to the very back of the barn where there were no blankets.  
“I'm bored,” He announced.  
“We've got movies,” Keith said.  
“Yeah but you can't watch movies unless it's dark outside,” Lance said.  
“What? That's a stupid rule,” Keith said.  
“We established this rule long ago,” He protested.  
“It's true,” Pidge said.  
“Why? What if you want to watch a movie during the day?” Keith said.  
“You suffer,” Pidge responded.

Keith looked at him. You wouldn't think such a tiny innocent looking person could have such a dark sense of humor. She pushed up her glasses and smiled at Keith who laughed a little bit. Lance moved a load of pillows underneath of where Keith was sitting and scrambled up the ladder to him. Keith cocked his head to the side, Lance looked like he was about to jump. Which he did. Lance jumped into the pillows below him and bowed to everyone when he was done. Hunk and Pidge started laughing while Keith looked slightly impressed. Which he hated to admit.  
“Keith you should do that,” Lance smirked.  
“I don’t know…” Keith said.  
“Come dude, it’s fun!” Lance exclaimed, climbing back up.  
“Maybe later,” Keith protested, looking down at the pillows. 

He took his shoes off and set them against the wall. Lance turned around, and walked backwards to the edge, kicking his long legs out weirdly with each step. “What are you doing even?” Keith said. Lance shrugged and walked off of the edge with a yelp, landing in the pile. Keith rolled his eyes and waited for Lance to get up. He crouched down looked off of the edge. He decided he’d jump, just because it did look kind of fun. He sat crouched like that for a minute or two before getting up and jumping. He fell through the air laughing. When he landed he could see the pillows puff up and he laid in them. They were all laughing with him and Hunk was climbing up to jump. Keith got up and sat next to Pidge to watch Hunk. 

At dinner everyone was laughing and talking, Keith was still pretty quiet, but he was definitely warming up to the bunch. Shiro’s tacos were great and he sent everyone outside with lot’s of popcorn and drinks and other snacks so they could watch some movies. They picked Iron Man to Lance’s dismay, who wanted to watch Captain America. They made a giant nest of blankets and pillows and everyone was cuddled up in it, even Keith. Keith had never seen Iron Man, and he thought it was so cool. Lance kept talking about how much better Steve Rogers was then Tony Stark whenever Keith would make a remark about how cool Tony was. Which Hunk did agree that Steve was better. Pidge thought that Iron Man was cooler because they liked the technology in it. When they were done with the first Iron Man, they watched the first Captain America. Lance still cried when Bucky fell off of the train. Even though he knows he’s okay. Kind of. Keith decided he liked Tony better and Lance was totally ready to fight him because of it. 

Hunk and Pidge had fallen asleep during the second Captain America movie and Keith and Lance were on the third Iron Man now. Keith was falling in and out of sleep, jerking awake when something loud happened on the TV. He leaned his head on Lance’s shoulder for support, but eventually he fell asleep. Lance fell asleep not too long after and about an hour later Shiro came in to check on everyone. He quietly pushed open the door and turned on his phone flashlight. The four kids were still in the blanket nest all cuddled together. Keith was leaning on Lance with his mouth hanging open and his head tilted back, his legs draped over Hunk. Lance had his arm around Keith and had his head on Keith’s shoulder. Pidge was curled up next to Hunk, whose arms were wrapped around her. Shiro smiled softly and shut the door, returning to his house. 

In the morning, Keith woke up to light streaming in through the windows of the barn, his vision was blurry with sleep and his hair was stuck to his neck and the side of his face. He could see dust dancing in the beams of light. He looked over at Lance, there was light on his face, highlighting his faint freckles and the warm color of his skin. Keith stretched a little and got back into a comfortable position. He didn’t want to get up just yet. He slept for a little bit longer until Lance started to move and wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! This one was short, but it didn't have so much dialogue in it like the last chapter did. Sorry about that by the way. Also this one was really cute to write so yeah...


	4. Books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOSH. I am so sorry it's taken so long and this chapter is really short, but this chapter is a lame filler and the next one will be WAY longer and much more interesting. I promise. Also I decided to add another headcanon/AU to this whoops so you'll see that soon ;))))))

After everyone was fully awake, the house was buzzing and smelled like waffles. Keith and Lance were still bickering over whether Captain America or Iron Man was better and Shiro was giving waffles and strawberries to everyone. Pidge and Hunk chattered about ‘nerd things’ according to Lance as they ate breakfast. After everyone left, Keith sighed and turned to Shiro.  
“I like them,” Keith said quietly.  
“Yeah, I knew you’d warm up,” Shiro replied.

Later that day, the late night caught up with Keith. He was laying on the couch staring at the blank TV. Shiro came into the living room with an orange envelope labeled, “PROPERTY OF GALAXY GARRISON” in big red letters. Keith looked up at Shiro with big, excited eyes.  
“What’s this?” Keith asked.   
“Well, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure this is study material for entrance exams,” Shiro said.  
“Oh my god can I open it?” Keith said.  
“Knock yourself out kiddo,” Shiro said, handing him the package.

Keith tore open the thing and peered inside of it. He shook out a load of papers and two extra envelopes. He opened one and quickly unfolded the paper inside. He quickly skimmed through it, and stopped when his eyes landed on a date. He looked up at Shiro with a huge grin and the two read the rest of the things together. Books were available for checkout the next day and exams were in January. It was March. Keith had almost a whole year to study for this exam. Just then Shiro’s phone started to endlessly vibrate with texts from most likely the crazy bunch of kids Keith had just spent the night with. Shiro smiled as he read excited texts about the Garrison information. Lance even called Shiro and just started yelling about it. Shiro held the phone about a foot from his ear as Lance yelled excitedly about the Galaxy Garrison and going tomorrow.   
“Lance, buddy, slooooow down, what about tomorrow?”   
“We get to go to the actual Galaxy Garrison tomorrow for books,” Lance said.   
“Oh yeah, do you wanna meet me and Keith somewhere when we get there?” Shiro asked. 

Lance and Shiro talked for a while longer and decided that they would all meet at the front entrance at eleven the next day. Lance was going to text Pidge and Hunk. Keith was ecstatic about going to the Garrison, he had been there once because one of his foster siblings attended the school when he was really little. 

“Oh my GOD,” Lance shrieked when he walked into the Garrison.  
“Literally this is just the library chill,” Keith said, despite the fact he was grinning.   
“Duuuude, this is the coolest library though,” Hunk said.  
“I want to live here,” Pidge added. 

The library was pretty cool. Bookshelves filled to the brim with colorful books towered around them, reaching the ceiling and tucked in between every other bookshelf was a table with a few chairs and a lamp, for study purposes. Lance was talking to Keith, except he jumped around from topic to topic excitedly so Keith didn’t exactly know what he was talking about or get anything he said. The line took about a half an hour to get through, but that was okay because the library was super cool and there was a lot to look at. There weren’t a ton of books, just physics, math, and astronomy and the rest were online. Except for the ones they needed to write essays on. Which was only two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry it's so short!


	5. Be Wherever You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off of this amazing video https://youtu.be/I0PU_xFtgcg I love this video with all of my being so I thought, "hey, let's use this in my fic" and here it is. Also this chapter is Klance development so ;) and the fact that Lance plays uke was the AU i was adding. Merry christmas.
> 
> Oh yeah also please listen to this when you get to the part: https://youtu.be/MIREK5ZL1jA

It was the very beginning of June and Keith had been working at Shiro’s bookshop for a month and a half. Keith listened to Lance read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to the kids as he put new books on the shelves. He liked listening to Lance read. He liked the bad accents Lance used for all of the characters and the way he read it with so much expression. It was almost more like acting than reading. Keith also quite liked these Harry Potter books. And he hated to admit it, but he thought it was cute how Lance read to the kids like that every day. 

After work, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Keith were all going to Pidge’s for a sleepover. Keith shoved his shoes into his overnight bag and laced his rollerblades. Keith said bye to Shiro before they all left and then they were on their way. Pidge lived lived near the beach in a huge house with her brother and mom. Lance was skateboarding next to Keith on the narrow sidewalk and Pidge and Hunk were in front of them on bikes. The breeze was nice and it smelled like the ocean. 

Keith had never been to Pidge’s house, but he knew it was big based on what Lance had said, but he honestly wasn’t expecting this. The house was huge, that was true, but it was bigger than he had anticipated. They tossed their bikes and skates into the shed next to the house and Pidge led them inside. No one was home yet so Pidge took everyone upstairs to where her room was and the apparent movie room they had… Keith was very impressed by the house and even more excited about the movie room, which was amazing. There were a lot of pillows and blankets, that was a necessity for sleepovers with these guys. 

Later that night, Lance and Keith were the only ones up.  
“I’m bored,” Keith said.  
“Me too,” Lance agreed.  
“What else does Pidge’s house have?” Keith asked.

Lance’s eyes widened as he got an idea and he picked something up that Keith couldn’t make out in the dim lighting and grabbed Keith by the arm, carefully opening the door. They walked down the halls until they got to another door which Lance opened and closed behind him. It looked kind of like an observatory, but without a telescope and the other equipment. So kind of like a sunroom, but to look at the stars. Keith looked around in awe, it was amazing. Lance pulled a ukulele out of his bag and started playing it as Keith looked around. 

“Isn’t this such a beautiful night woah,” Lance started singing. 

Keith turned around and looked at Lance, surprised.

“We’re underneath a thousand shining stars.” 

Keith sat down next to Lance and looked up at the sky. The little town didn’t have much light pollution in the area, making the stars bright and plentiful. It was beautiful. 

“Isn’t it nice to find yourself somewhere different,” 

Lance was actually really good at singing, and playing the ukulele. Keith loved it.

“Woah, why don’t you let yourself just be wherever you are,”

“Look at this place, look at your face,” 

Keith was grinning and blushing like an idiot. Good thing it was kinda dark.

“I’ve never seen you look like this before,” 

Keith let out a quiet laugh before leaning back on his arms to see the sky better.

“Isn’t it nice to find yourself somewhere different,” 

This was definitely a side of Lance Keith could get used to seeing.

“Woah, why don’t you let yourself just be wherever you are,” 

“Look at this place, look at your face,” 

“It’s shining like a thousand shining stars,”

Lance looked at Keith, the pale light from the moon was illuminating his features and Lance noticed how pretty he was, tripping up on his chords but recovering easily.

“Isn’t it nice to find yourself somewhere different,” 

“Woah, why don’t you let yourself just be wherever you are,” 

“Why don’t you let yourself just be somewhere different,”

“Woah, why don’t you let yourself just be wherever you are,” 

Lance finished, smiling at Keith who was staring at him with a goofy look. Lance turned music on his phone, which was also ukulele music and looked at the stars with Keith. Eventually they found themselves dancing, filling the room with laughter and warmth as Lance twirled Keith around to more Steven Universe songs. Keith’s whole body shook with laughter as Lance dipped him and soon they were in a heap on the floor laughing. Soon they made their way back to the movie room where Pidge and Hunk were still asleep and collapsed next to each other on a nest of pillows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I sure enjoyed writing it! <3 (and honestly it isn't much longer than the last one but i feel like some of these chapters can't be long otherwise i won't have good closure and the moment will be easily forgotten)


	6. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I'm back!

Rays of golden sunlight peeked through the windows of the movie room, shining onto Lance’s face as he scrunched his nose up and opened his eyes. Keith turned to the side, now facing Lance. Lance smiled and remembered singing and dancing in the observatory last night with Keith. Lance was slowly falling for Keith, although he would never in a million years admit that. Keith’s eyes fluttered open as Lance sat up, looking around the room. Pidge and Hunk were just starting to wake up and soon everyone was downstairs. This house was much different than Shiro’s little condo. Keith wondered what people did with all of this space, and of course he had stayed in houses like this this before, big and spacious with snobby rich people sending him off to fancy schools. Well that was once and Keith was almost grateful when he was dumped back into the foster care home. 

Keith could not believe how much work the bookstore was after everyone left. He and Shiro always stayed after to clean up a little bit so the next day wouldn’t be as hard. It wasn’t horrible, honestly, but people just stuffed books into any shelf they could and left, Keith decided it would be better if they just left the books somewhere so he wouldn’t have to look through every shelf, picking out every book that didn’t belong. So he and Shiro went out to buy a suitcase that people could put their discarded books in.   
“Great idea, Keith, we actually need a case for used books that people want to drop off too,” Shiro said as they walked into the store.   
“Oh, uh, thanks,” Keith said, scratching the back of his head and staring in a different direction.

 

Keith held his pencil, tapping it angrily on the table in the break room with Pidge sitting across from him.  
“Will you please stop that Keith, it’s driving me insane,” she said, looking up sharply from her work.  
“Sorry,” Keith responded.  
“Thank you, do you need any help?” She asked.  
“Do you know anything about advanced physics?” Keith said, hopefully.   
“Yeah, that’s actually most of what I’m working on right now,” Pidge said.  
“Ok well, I’m confused,” 

Keith went on to explain the problem to Pidge and she helped him to figure it out. Physics was actually one of Keith’s best subjects, but this was stumping him. Soon Keith had to leave so Shiro and Hunk could take their quick breaks. Now it was just Keith and Lance. Lance was at the checkout, flipping through a comic book with a bored look on his face and Keith tended to the suitcase of books and began to organize them. The bell on the door rang and someone else came in. Lance greeted them and added a stupid pick-up line which made Keith laugh while shelving books. Keith finished his organizing and sat on the mini stage Lance used to read books.  
“Lance you should sing to the kids sometime,” Keith said.  
“True, I bet they’d adore me,” Lance said.  
“Oh my god Lance,”   
“You’d have to sing,” Lance said.  
“Welp, nevermind,” Keith said, turning on his heel and walking to the cafe.  
“Pleeeeassseeee,” Lance whined.  
Why did Keith suggest this. “No.”  
“Please please please,” Lance said.  
“No no no,”  
“I bet you’re great, I mean, not as great as moi, but great,”  
“Wow, thanks Lance,” Keith rolled his eyes.  
“Please Keith,” Lance pleaded.  
“Oh my god fine,” Keith finally caved.  
“Yes! We can practice at my house after work,” Lance suggested.  
“I guess that’s fine with me, I’ll tell Shiro,” Keith said.

Lance walked down the street next to Keith, naming off about twelve thousand different songs they could do for the kids.  
“Lance oh my god stop we’ll figure it out when we get there,” Keith said.  
“Well why not figure it out now?” Lance said.  
“I dunno,”   
“Great reason, so I’m gonna keep naming songs,”   
Lance continued to name songs. Keith had very confusing feelings about Lance, he was cute and talented and funny sometimes, but he was also annoying and cocky and ridiculous. Keith shook his head as if to clear his brain of thoughts about Lance. Lance was still naming songs when Keith zoned back in.   
“Lance where do you live,” Keith asked, interrupting Lance’s song brainstorming. He realized they had been walking for a while.   
“I live right next to the beach, a few neighborhoods away from where Pidge lives,”   
“Oh,”   
“Oh yeah, I have a lot of siblings and a dog, I’ll try to get past them all quickly” Lance added.  
“What’s a lot?” Keith asked.   
“Nine, all of them are younger except my older brother,”   
“That is definitely a lot…” Keith said.  
Lance laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Suddenly Keith realized how Lance was so great with all the little kids at the bookshop. Keith had stayed with big families like that before, he didn’t like being around all those people all the time. That was too much for him to handle. It was nice that Lance’s oversized family lived near the beach though, that probably gave the kids something to do a lot of the time if they could just walk there. They turned into a neighborhood full of smaller houses, all of them maybe a little bit bigger than Shiro’s condo, but not by much. Lance waved and greeted many people, smiling largely at everyone they saw. They made a few stops in people’s yards for Lance to give small children hugs. Finally, they reached a house with a big tree in the front yard. There were bikes and skates and toys scattered everywhere in the yard, but it didn’t look trashy. It was welcoming and nice. The garage was open and a big dog laid on the top of the driveway, soaking up the sun. The dog looked very excited to see Lance and came barreling down the driveway to greet him. Except it didn’t jump on him, the dog mostly licked his legs and hands and barked softly. “Hey buddy,” Lance said excitedly, “Keith, this is my dog, Buzz!” Keith smiled at the nerdy name Lance had given the dog and pet Buzz’s head.   
Moments later, two little kids came dashing out of the house, giggling and screaming when they saw their brother. Lance put his arms out to pick them up and kissed both of them on the cheek before putting them down again.   
“Guys, this is Keith. Can you say hi to him?” Lance said.  
“Hi Keith!” The little kids said in unison.   
“Hi!” Keith said awkwardly, he wasn’t very great with little kids.   
“These two are Ben and Allie,” Lance told Keith, trying to keep his balance as Ben and Allie grabbed either of his arms and hung there like monkeys.  
Keith laughed at Lance staggering around the driveway with his siblings. He eventually got them off and they went inside the house. It was surprisingly quiet inside. This made Keith feel better about being at Lance’s house. Lance picked up a note at the counter and they hurried upstairs to Lance’s room before any other kids could stop them. Lance’s room was a lot like Keith’s room. He had plastic glow stars and nerdy space posters just like Keith, but unlike Keith’s room Lance had two guitars and a ukulele hanging on the wall opposite of his bed and a big bookcase of books and sheet music. The walls of his room were also covered in drawings made by little kids. Probably some of his siblings and some from the kids who come to the library regularly to hear Lance read. There was also a music stand, an amplifier, and a couple beanbag chairs in the corner. Lance was laying on the floor next to his bed, rummaging through a box of jumbled cords. He made a triumphant sound and pulled a cable out that was probably about twenty feet long. Keith made himself comfortable in one of Lance’s beanbag chairs.  
“Nooo don’t sit there that one’s mine,” Lance said when he saw Keith.  
“What? Are you like seven years old, it’s a beanbag chair,” Keith said.  
“Yeah, but it’s my beanbag chair,” Lance told Keith very matter-of-factly.  
Keith groaned, “Fine,” he said, getting up and moving to the second chair.   
“Thank you,” Lance said, sitting himself down in the chair, holding his ukulele.  
Keith was instantly reminded of Pidge’s house. His face turned pinkish as he remembered twirling around the observatory with Lance to soft ukulele music late at night. That was a good night.   
“Why don’t we do that Steven Universe song you sang to me at Pidge’s house?” Keith suggested.  
“Oh yeah that’s a great idea!” Lance agreed, his face lighting up as if he’d been waiting for Keith to ask him that.  
So they practiced a few times, Keith’s singing voice matched his talking voice, it was soft and quiet. Which was perfect for the song they were going to be performing. Lance was excited about how much Keith was warming up to him since they had first met. Although he found Keith slightly annoying, he wanted him to be a part of the little group of close friends that Shiro had created. He pitied Keith and worried about him a lot, Keith was definitely not someone Lance would call ‘generally healthy’. His pasty complexion made the large, dark bags under his eyes look darker and he was awfully skinny for his height. Keith always looked like he was on the edge of collapsing or passing out. He also fell asleep during his breaks a lot. Sometimes Lance would work a little extra to let Keith sleep, because he needs it. Even right now, as the boys sat in silence, Keith leaned his head on the wall and blinked sleepily.  
“So Keith do you ever sleep,” Lance said, making Keith jerk his head up.  
“I mean, yeah, but not very much,” Keith said awkwardly.  
“Yeah that’s not surprising,” Lance said.  
“What is that supposed to mean?” Keith asked.  
“I dunno, you fall asleep at work a lot and you just look generally tired,” Lance told him.  
“Oh,” Keith said.  
“I’m tired right now,”   
“I can tell,” Lance said.  
“Whoops,”  
They sat in silence for a little while longer. Soon, Keith found himself falling asleep. Lance noticed Keith’s head slowly tilting forwards and scooted closer to him, he pushed Keith’s head back up, and onto his shoulder. Lance managed to wiggle his arm around Keith without waking him up, he looked cold. Keith fell into him and continued to sleep. He looked cute when he was sleeping. Lance backtracked after that thought. He just admitted to himself that he thought Keith was cute. Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW HEY GUYS it totally hasn't been six million years since I updated this... hahahahahah I'm so sorry. But I'm back now!!! I hope you enjoyed this fluffy little chapter :)


	7. pasta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they make pasta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yEet its literally been like a year since i updated this fic here's another chapter lmao

Keith woke up on Lance’s chest, he rubbed his eyes and yawned, still tired despite falling asleep for who knows how long. Lance was also asleep. Wait, what? Keith shook his head, suddenly aware of what he was doing and who he was with. He wanted to get up and away from Lance, but he was asleep and that would be mean. Keith wanted to know how long he had slept for, and what time it was. He didn’t have a phone yet and didn’t know where Lance’s was so he couldn’t do that. He laid as still as he could on Lance’s chest, thinking about everything that had happened in the past week. Keith really liked Shiro, it was really almost like living with a friend or a cool older brother. He also really liked Pidge, Hunk, and Lance. Keith knew he shouldn’t get attached, Shiro was probably going to toss him back into foster care facility just like everyone else who’s ever fostered him. But he just had a feeling about these guys. Like they were going to stick with him for a long time. Some time passed and Lance finally started waking up. He looked at Keith who was almost laying in his lap and felt the urge to smile. Keith blushed and sat up quickly, trying to get his hair back into some kind of order.   
“Enjoy your nap?” Lance asked, no longer able to suppress a grin.  
“I mean, I’m still tired,” Keith said, not able to look Lance in the eyes.   
“Well, yeah obviously, you hardly sleep at night,” Lance said, standing up to stretch.   
“What time is it?” Keith asked, trying to change the subject.  
Lance looked at his phone, “Six ten.”  
“Oh,”  
Keith decided he wanted to eat dinner with Shiro, mostly to escape the awkwardness he felt around Lance right now, but also because Lance’s family consisted of eleven people living in the house, and he was not up to deal with eleven people right now. Lance insisted on walking Keith home, he left a note on the counter for his mother who was home, but nowhere to be seen. Keith listened to Lance ramble on about something to do with the Galaxy Garrison, but Keith was drained. He didn’t listen much, he only caught parts of what Lance was saying.  
“Are you okay?” Lance asked, forcing Keith to break his silence.  
“Yeah,”  
“You seem quiet,”  
“Have you met me, I’m almost always like this,” Keith said.  
“I’ve only really known you for like, six days,”  
“Oh, well, I don’t talk much,”   
Lance continued talking about the Garrison, and Keith continued to zone out. After what felt like forever, they reached Shiro’s condo. Lance went inside with Keith to say hi to Shiro, even though he already saw him at work today. Keith said hi to Shiro, told him what he and Lance had worked on for the past three hours and then laid on the couch and stared at the ceiling. This was a normal pastime for Keith, not having a phone or the motivation to do anything led him to a lot of staring at the ceiling. He’d probably spent half of his life staring at a ceiling. He stared at the ceiling of his gross room in the foster care facility, it was squared with white tiles and lit up with those disgusting fluorescent lights. Shiro’s ceiling was nice, it was a soft white, like ivory and textured with little bumps of paint. It was lit up by the warm lights in the kitchen. Keith felt useless. He could be helping Shiro prepare dinner, but no one ever taught him how to cook. The last family had taught him a little bit, but nothing that was worth remembering. Maybe Shiro would teach him a little.  
“Hey uh, can you teach me how to do some cooking?” Keith asked, feeling embarrassed that at age sixteen, he still couldn’t cook a simple meal.  
“Of course! You gotta be in the kitchen to do that though,” Shiro said, smiling.  
“Haha, I’ll be right there,” Keith said.  
“So tonight I was thinking we could have spaghetti with marinara sauce,” Shiro told Keith.  
“I like spaghetti,” Keith said thoughtfully.  
“Hey, me too! And it’s fairly easy to prepare,” Shiro said.  
“Alright, so what do we need to make it?” Keith asked his new culinary arts teacher.  
“Well, you need water, salt, and the box of noodles to make noodles,” Shiro said.  
“The salt is in the cabinet above the sink and the noodles are in the pantry,”  
“Ok, I’ll get those, but what about the sauce?” Keith asked.  
“I like to make my own sauce, so we’ll do that later,” Shiro told Keith.   
“Oh, cool!” Keith exclaimed, feeling excited to learn for the first time in a long time.   
Keith went to the pantry first, to grab the noodles. Shiro’s pantry smelled like spices, bread, and coffee. It was weird but strangely comforting. He spotted the noodles on the third shelf and stood on his toes to grab it. He slid it across the counter to Shiro and walked to the cabinet above the sink for the salt and measuring cup. He opened the doors excitedly and grabbed the salt and the cup. He set the two things on the counter and filled the measuring cup up until it was almost all the way full. Shiro was bent over, making loud clanging sounds as he struggled to find the pot for the noodles. When he finally found it, Keith was staring into space, with his head resting on his hands over the counter. Shiro tapped him on the shoulder, making Keith jump.  
“Sorry, that scared me,” Keith said, his face flushing.  
“No no, it’s fine, sorry I scared you,” Shiro said, feeling bad he had frightened Keith.  
“It’s okay,” Keith said, his voice quieter than earlier.  
“I found the pot though!” Shiro said triumphantly.  
Keith smiled but said nothing.  
Shiro told Keith that before putting the noodles in the pot, they needed to boil water. Keith put the pot on the stove and turned the flame to the highest setting, just like Shiro had told him to. Shiro got out a small saucepan and some olive oil. Shiro explained what to do and they began making the sauce as they waited for the water to boil. It was kind of difficult, and Keith wasn’t sure how he was going to remember all of those instructions, but it was fun to learn how it’s made. Apparently, Hunk was really good at cooking and baking, at least that’s what Shiro said. Keith wasn’t very good at making the sauce, he got frustrated more than once when trying to mix everything together without it spilling over the edges. Shiro was good at calming Keith down, like how Austin was.   
Soon the little house smelled like pasta and tomato sauce. Keith and Shiro sat down at the kitchen table with steaming bowls of pasta with homemade sauce. Keith looked at his bowl of pasta and smiled, he made this. And he knew that it was probably a silly thing to be proud of, but he was proud of it. It was fun to make too, he and Shiro talked and joked while they were making it, that was the most fun he’d had in a while. Shiro was glad about being able to connect with Keith and felt happy that he was coming out of his shell and trying new things. Mr. Callin said that would be hard for Keith and although he did get frustrated a few times, he finished the project and even seemed to enjoy it. Shiro liked Keith, he was awkward and closed off at times, but when he spent time with him and Keith was open and comfortable, he was really nice to be around. Keith liked Shiro too, he felt comfortable around him and liked that Shiro was okay with the fact that he sometimes needed some quiet time to himself, but didn’t ignore him because of it.  
Later that night, after Keith retreated to his bedroom for the night, Shiro got a text from Matt. He smiled as he filled him in on Keith and the gang. Shiro was glad that Keith was enjoying his time at the bookstore and with the kids but still felt like Keith was closed off. Trying not to get attached, which, if he had been in the situation Keith has been in for the last eleven years of his life, he probably wouldn’t want to get too attached to anyone either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!


End file.
